


Crush the Serpent with Their Heels

by NyxEtoile, OlivesAwl



Series: Tales Through the Looking Glass [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU of an AU, Badass Ladies, F/M, Team as Family, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:34:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26118880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyxEtoile/pseuds/NyxEtoile, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlivesAwl/pseuds/OlivesAwl
Summary: Tony nodded. He imagined it whatever had been left of Barnes had balked at the idea of going after Howard. “Look, I’m a big fan of burying all my trauma, so I’m fine with never discussing this again. It was done to both of us by other, very bad people, who we have already dedicated our lives to stopping. We can cry and drink about it or we can tell them to fuck off and bring their little club to its knees. I know which option I prefer.”“Vengeance is right there in our name.”“See? Practically a job description.” He paused, studying him a moment. “You want a new arm?”
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Original Female Character(s), Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Darcy Lewis/Original Male Character(s), James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), Jane Foster/Thor, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers
Series: Tales Through the Looking Glass [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1226996
Comments: 148
Kudos: 214





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is another unfinished one, but we do peck at it, since it's holding up the singleton stories. A Looking Glass version of the events of Captain America: Winter Soldier. The team puts in motion plans to stop Hydra and Amanda gets to pull a long-con on Pierce It's fun for the whole family.

Amanda was just getting back from lunch when the phone one her desk rang. "Dr. Newbury?" the female voice asked.

She didn't recognize the voice at all, so she used what she'd started thinking of as Hydra voice. "Speaking, who's this?"

"This is Alexander Pierce's office, the Secretary has requested you come for a meeting."

Whelp, that had probably been inevitable. "When?"

"At your earliest convenience today."

She didn't have anything specific happening right now. And waiting would only tie her into knots. "I'll be right up," she said, and hung up. She had the elevator ride to psych herself up for this bit of fun.

Amanda was shown into his office, and he was standing at the window. "Hello, Dr. Newbury."

"Director Pierce," she replied. "You wanted to see me?"

He turned and looked at her fully. "You have taken something of mine, and I want to know where it is."

She appreciated the directness, at any rate. "Somewhere safe while I repair the damage you and yours have been doing." She crossed her arms and let some ire rise. "Do you have any idea what shape he was in when I found him."

He blinked, clearly not expecting this response. "Excuse me?"

"Underfed, malnourished, vitamin D deficiency, iron deficiency." She ticked them off on her fingers. "His blood tests indicated he was a few weeks from having scurvy. Scurvy! The most expensive weapon in the world suffering from a disease we figured out in the 1600s."

"I don't exactly micromanage the details of his feeding. We have doctors. . ." He sounded defensive, which is what she wanted.

"You know weapons, don't you? If you had a gun that you fired sporadically over sixty years but never cleaned or oiled, how well do you think that gun would function?" 

"His doctors have routinely cleared-"

"I would love their names, because they need to be fired and possibly lose their license. Are they your doctors too? If so, I'd strongly suggest you get some blood work done." She pointed at his hands. "You're exhibiting signs of Terry's nails. Could indicate liver or heart disease, or a malfunction of the kidneys." He looked down at his fingernails, clearly perturbed, so she decided to deliver the finishing blow.

She waved at the windows. "A month ago aliens attacked New York. The stakes are higher than ever. You needed him at peak condition and he was not there. So yes, I've taken control of him to get him back to fighting strength."

Pierce regarded her. "You're one of Carson's people, aren't you? He told me he was working on something that would impress me. I thought it was bullshit until I heard about Barton." He nodded. "I need to see the Asset."

_Shit, shit, shit,_

"I can meet you at the safe house tomorrow morning. I'd rather not disrupt his schedule if I can help it."

"Fair enough. Give my assistant the details."

"Will that be all director?"

"Dismissed," he replied, turning back to the window for emphasis.

She left, brushing past his assistant and digging her phone out once she was in the elevator. She pulled up Nat's number and sent her a confidential message. _I need a safe house and brown hair dye._

_Where are you?_ was the reply.

_In the elevator, Pierce wants to see the Asset. I told him he was in a safe house and he could see him in the morning. I have to send his assistant details._

_I'll come to your office._

_Thank you._ She tucked the phone away, composed herself, and stepped out of the elevator, walking to her office like she hadn't a care in the world.

Nat showed up 20 minutes later, and she had Clint with her. She shut the door behind them and said, "Tell me everything."

Amanda had made herself tea and calmed down, so she recounted the conversation as close to verbatim as she could, with the clinical detachment of a differential diagnosis consult. "So I told him I'd meet him at the safe house in the morning because i didn't want to disrupt the Assest's schedule. Pierce agreed, told me to give his assistant the details and dismissed me. That's when I texted you."

"Nice bluff," Clint said, and Amanda smiled.

Nat pulled out her phone and dialed. "Hey. You still have that server and facility list?. . . There's a place south of Baltimore that's probably listed as a storage facility with an outsized security system. Probably a. . . Yeah, that one. Text Doc and I the address." She hung up and looked at Amanda. "It's bare space, but it's got a bunker for a basement. We use it for interrogations and occasionally stashing 084s. Make a list of everything you need to make it look legit."

She dug a piece of paper out of her office and started listing medical equipment she'd want on hand. "We need to dye James's hair back to brown. I can explain the cut but not why I wanted him to look like a surfer."

"I'll handle that," Nat said. "I did bleach it."  
"Thank you. Is 9am enough time to get it set up?"

"We'll make it happen," Clint said.

"You'll need fake staff, too," Nat said. "He's not going to believe you're just there alone with him. People he won't recognize."

"I can probably go," Clint said. "I'm known to be Hydra and all."

"People think you report to Pierce," Nat said. "That might be awkward if he asks who authorized New York."

"He thinks I work for someone named Carson," Amanda said. "I neither confirmed nor denied."

Clint's head turned. "Mitch Carson?"

She spread her hands. "Just said Carson." Pausing, she tried to bring up the exact words. "Said Carson had told Pierce he was working on something that would impress him and he didn't believe it until he heard about Barton."

Nat looked over at Clint. "Is that the guy that Peggy fired at the Starks' funeral?" SHIELD had a lot of legends. Amanda had heard the story but not the name.

"Huh." He crossed his arms over his chest. "That's our missing senior lieutenant." He looked at Amanda. "He was Head of Defense in the 70's and 80's. He'd have been a level 9. Who knows why Peggy fired him-"

"She's alive, we should ask her," Nat interjected. 

“—But somehow he ended up coming back to SHIELD when they started up the Tesseract experiments again. He was the head of the Joint Dark Energy Mission."

Nat frowned. "I don't remember him being on any of our lists in 2014 and you would have thought. . ."

"Because he was dead. He died in the building collapse when Loki arrived."

"So he's not around to deny I'm one of his." Amanda tipped her head back. "That's better cover than anything we could have come up with."

Nat reached over and patted Clint's shoulder. "Good job, honey."

"Hey, it's cover for all of us. Even explains how and when I got turned."

"Right, back to Amanda's staff."

"Sam and Riley," Amanda said suddenly. "They have medical training and he wouldn't know them. He can't possibly have every SHIELD agent memorized."

"I'll be there," Clint said. "I'll blame Carson. We can see if any of the non-famous civilians will do it, too."

Amanda nodded. "I'm sure James will feel better with you there."

Her phone pinged, and Cal had texted her an address, which then sent to Pierce's assistant. Now she just needed to explain all of this to James.

"I'm not going back under," was the first thing he said when she told him.

"No, of course not. We'll blow the op before I let that happen." She didn't know what the rest of them would think of that, but she was sure Steve, Clint, and probably Tony would back her and that was sufficient. "I've convinced him I'm getting you into fighting shape, which you aren't at yet. That'll buy us plenty of time."

"But I'll need to pretend to be the Asset?"

She bit her lip but sighed. There was no way around it. "You will, yes."

He sighed and tipped his head back. "For how long?"

"Just when he comes to visit."

When James looked back at her, she saw the edges of a smile. "And I can't punch him in the face?" 

She smirked. "I mean, I would be helpless to stop you."

"He'd probably demand I be wiped." But his shoulders had relaxed, and she could tell he was okay with this.

"Yeah and who'd be in charge of that? Me." She stepped close and tucked her arms around him. "I'm sure I'll screw it up."

"I can't regrow my hair by the morning. Please tell me there's no wig."

"Nat's going to dye it back to brown tonight. I'll tell him it was matted and I had to cut it."

"If my hair had a different texture, it likely would have. Hygiene was not a priority." He kissed the top of her head. "Okay. Let's get this going."

They borrowed a SHEILD van and raided the lab downstairs for additional equipment, packing it up to take over in the middle of the night. Amanda was impressed with the sheer volume of stuff Nat managed to procure, including things like uniforms and paperwork and door signage. 

"Okay, who here can fake being a scientist?" Nat asked during what was probably the unofficial mission briefing.

"Well, I could _try_ ," Jane said dryly.

Amanda could see Thor opening his mouth, but Steve cut in with, "You're too famous."

"In 2017 she was," Darcy said. “In 2012 she's still a crackpot sleeping on her Mom's couch."

"That's perfect," Amanda said.

"Hey!"

"Is anyone going to believe she turned to Hydra?" Steve asked.

"Don't underestimate how tempting being taken seriously is to a woman in a man's field," Amanda told him.

"Damn right," Jane agreed. "Funding and a lab? That outweighs a lot of evil."

"We can fake an entire operation and blame Carson," Sharon said. "Serum research, the dark energy stuff, espionage. Whatever we need."

"What if someone figures out we all live in a house together?" Tony asked. Ruby was crawling on his lap, and reached up to grab a handful of his hair. "Ow. I'd find that fishy."

"That's part of the point," Sharon replied. "Infiltrate the Avengers. That's how Hydra operated."

"Fury recruited half of us himself," Nat said. "It will just confirm to Pierce he's not onto him."

Amanda crossed her arms. "Carson recruiting Clint and presumably me give us a clear line of succession to everyone else. No need to question any of it."

"All right," Nat said. "So, Sam, Riley, Jane. . .Darcy? Anyone else?"

There was a pause as they glanced at each other. "I think that's enough," Amanda said finally. "If it's too big he might get suspicious of how much is being done under his nose."

They ended up spending the night at the safe house, just in case Pierce decided to be early. It had take two rounds of dye to get James's hair dark enough, so it was still a little damp when they went to sleep. He had hilarious bed head in the morning.

"I'm debating brushing or leaving it," Amanda teased as he got dressed. She was in work clothes, sipping tea, trying to get in the right headspace for their meeting. "It adds to the wild man look."

"Whatever makes my role more convincing." There was no humor in his voice. Right now they were waiting for the rest of her "staff" to arrive and he was radiating nerves.

Setting her tea down, she went over to hold him. "I have a sedative and gun in my bag. There's a pistol behind the chair you'll be in. Sam and Riley will be armed. Darcy even promised to bring her TASER. Anything goes wrong, we'll blow everything and run. But I blustered my way into this, please please trust me to bluster my way out. Manipulating egotistical men is sort of a hobby of mine."

James rested his chin on the top of her head. "I trust you. And. . .I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you this, but Sharon is on a roof across the street with a rifle and a scope. That's how we talked Captain Obvious out of coming and hovering somewhere."

"I had wondered why he wasn't lurking in the closet somewhere," she admitted. She rubbed his back. "All you have to do is sit, zone out, and watch me play mind games with a sociopath. It'll be fun!"

The security door buzzed, announcing the arrival of the rest of their team. Amanda really appreciated how gamely Riley had jumped into this situation that was, on the surface, very bizarre. He just rolled with it, because he trusted Sam.

"So am I going for like lawful evil? Is that our vibe? Or more a chaotic evil mad scientist thing?"

"Sorry to disappoint, dude, but I think we're the guards," Sam said.

"Aim for disinterested mook," Darcy told him.

"I think lawful evil would still work," Amanda offered. "Greater good and all that."

"I will be doing chaotic neutral," Darcy said. "Hydra likes chaos. Jane is the lady scientist who is bitter she can't get any funding. And is also married to a caveman."

"Don't get me started," Jane grumbled, with annoyance that sounded genuine.

Amanda knew that tone. "Was there posturing about you coming?"

"He's worried. He wanted to come be in the area in case something went wrong, but he is _very_ obvious. There was weather outside while we were arguing."

"Steve and Tony are having the same problem," Sam commented. "None of those guys handle being left home to wait very well."

"That's why it's so good for them," Darcy said. "Boys gotta with with their worry and learn the ladies can handle themselves. All damsel, no distress."

"I want a mug that says that," Amanda commented.

"I will make that happen."

"Guys," Clint said from where he was watching the security feed. "They're here."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Labor Day weekend! This story is going to have kind of short-ish chapters, with the goal of being able to bring you more of them.
> 
> Thank you for the the love and comments. Nyx and I have found them very encouraging and motivating.

It was a very long morning waiting with Captain Stoic and Iron Worrier, waiting for word of how the meeting with Pierce went. Nat seriously considered slipping some of Amanda's sedatives into their drinks. Just to ratchet down the tension in the house.

It was, in fact, tense enough, that she and Steve jumped when their phones pinged with text messages.

Hers was from Clint. _Done. No drama, cover intact. Doc could win an Oscar._

"Clint says everything went fine and Amanda's in the wrong career," she told Steve once he'd had a moment to read his.

"Sharon says Pierce was in and out in half an hour and nobody looked bloody," Steve replied.

"Sounds like we got away with it."

"JARVIS," Tony said, "Please tell Point Break upstairs that Jane is fine and his weather is interfering with air traffic at BWI."

"The current rain is from a naturally occurring weather front," JARVIS replied. "But I will convey your message."

Sharon arrived about half an hour later, with Sam and Riley in tow. "I didn't get to shoot anyone," she complained good naturally as she started dismantling the sniper rifle.

"They'll be plenty soon enough," Steve said.

"You guys should have seen her," Sam said. "Doc. She got Pierce to apologize for Barnes’s condition and they spent half the meeting talking about Pierce's blood pressure."

"Yeah, she does that," Tony muttered.

"He's making her his personal doctor," Riley added. "And then she started negotiating for a raise."

Sam shook his head. "I really thought Barnes was gonna break character."

"How did none of you get this on record?" Nat asked.

"I think Darcy got the last part."

The rest of them arrived a couple of minutes after that, to a spontaneous round of applause.

Darcy waved her phone. "Wait'll we get this playing on the big screen."

Amanda went to the sink to fill her kettle. "I need a drink and a long nap."

"There's vodka in the freezer," Nat said. "If you want something stronger than tea."

"I can put vodka in tea."

"You did great, Doc," Clint said, slipping into the chair next to Nat.

"When the adrenaline wears off I'll believe you."

Barnes ducked around them, and went to the freezer to get the vodka. He took a swig out of it like it was a beer, then made a face. Nat didn't blame him. It was cheap.

He went over to Amanda to hand her the bottle. She took it, then tucked her arm around him, waiting for her tea to steep.

Nat decided they needed some space, and herded everyone else out of the kitchen. "We'll have a debrief later."

Amanda gave her a grateful little wave as the rest of them left. "Up for some file reading?" Nat asked Sharon. "We have some new batches."

"Oh, it's just my favorite thing."

They were into the quasi-digital files at this point. Paper that had been scanned and run through OCR. JARVIS flagged things for them that might be relevant, but they still had to read through a lot of chaff.

At the moment, for example, Nat had been sent something that turned out to be the menus from some fancy event. "Sharon?" she asked. "You know the story about the guy Peggy fired and threw out of Howard and Maria Stark's funeral?"

She glanced over. "Carson? Yeah, that was a Thanksgiving favorite."

"She ever tell you why?"

"Mostly because she couldn't stand him. There were a couple of men that always rubbed her the wrong way that Howard convinced her to keep on since they were friends, and they all were out the door pretty quickly. None of the rest she fired _at_ the funeral, but she found out he took it upon himself to give Tony cocaine to 'help' him through the day, and lost her shit." 

"Shit, really?" Nat marked the menus irrelevant and opened the next file. "I'm glad Clint dropped a building on him."

"Like the wicked witch."

"Is this the dead fake boss?" Violet asked from the doorway. She had Neil strapped to her chest in a carrier. She had started coming to help them with some of their information sorting. It turned out she was very good at distilling and organize lots of disjointed data. She had color coded notecards, which were an improvement over the serial-killer wall of paper they'd had in California.

"It is," Nat confirmed. "Apparently he gave Tony coke at his parent's funeral."

"Mmm. Pity we didn't come back far enough to kill him again."

"Now that we know he was Hydra," Sharon said. "You think there was something nefarious about that? Or was he just also generally an asshole?"

Nat looked over at her. "Huh."

"If I'd just killed Tony's parents, I'd want him as out of commission as possible," Violet said. "So he wouldn't look into it."

Nat and Sharon exchanged a look. "JARVIS, can you find any SHIELD archive records from late 1991 for Mitchell Carson?"

The three of them got to work scanning through a mountain of information. They'd rigged up a standing desk for Violet so she could stand and sway with Neil as she read.

After a period of silence, Violet spoke up. "Guys, I got something. There's an email thread with Carson a couple other people in September. Quote 'Stark is becoming a problem, we need to deal with him.' Carson offers to put something in his drink at their next meeting and someone else replies they need to kill Maria, too. 'If it's just Howard, Tony will go through his notes and work and may find out what Howard knows. Kill the wife and he'll go down a hole it'll take years to dig out of." She paused, scrolling a moment. "I think that's Stane."

"Oh, God," Nat breathed.

"JARVIS, pull up everything between this and the end of December with these guys on the chain."

They found an email from the end of November, from Alexander Pierce. _There is some SHIELD property I need retrieved, too important to gamble with. I'll send the Asset. This will address both problems._

"Well, that's the evidence Fury wanted," Nat said. "Can't explain that away."

"Was there more than one 'Asset'?" Violet asked.

"I've only ever seen that refer to the Winter Soldier," Nat said.

There was a moment of silence before Sharon said what they were all thinking. "So. . . Bucky killed Tony's parents."

"JARVIS, please ask Dr. Newbury to come down here," Nat said.

"She and Sergeant Barnes are. . . indisposed at the moment. I will pass the message on when appropriate."

"Well, at least she'll be in a good mood?" Violet offered.

Sharon was scrolling through the files, still reading. "I think I found confirmation—someone sent Pierce a message the night the Starks were killed stating an operation was successful, and that documentation would be forthcoming. He forwarded it to Carson and Stane. Carson replied that 26—Zola—requested visual confirmation and documentation would be forthcoming. Are. . . are there pictures?"

Nat went to lean over her shoulder. "That one," she said, poignant to a message a few lines down. "There's an attachment."

Sharon opened it and after a moment for JARVIS to find something to play the old file in, security camera footage of a forest road came up. A second later a car crashed into a tree full speed and an old man Nat recognized at Howard stumbled out of the door.

"Oh, my god," Violet whispered.

The three of them stood there in silent horror and watched the Winter Solider punch Howard's skull in, and then strangle Maria—at least that's what it looked like, you couldn't entirely see inside the car and there was thankfully no sound. If Nat had to guess, being an assassin herself, he was using the seatbelt to make it look like she'd beens strangled by it in the crash. He took something from the trunk, then faced the camera so there was no doubt who he was. His expression was blank and his eyes were dead. He reached for the camera and the screen went black.

Perhaps sensing the tension in his mother, Neil began to wail.

She walked away bouncing him and patting his back. He was just calming him down when Amanda arrived, looking rumpled, with fresh beard burn on her jaw. "What's wrong?"

Nat took a breath. Amanda didn't like beating around the bush. "We found evidence Pierce ordered the Starks killed. He sent the Winter Soldier. And they recorded it."

She paused a moment, taking that in. Then gave one little nod. "Show me."

"JARVIS," Nat said, and then the video popped back up on the screen. Violet turned around this time.

Amanda watched, arms crossed. She flinched a couple times, but mostly, stayed stone faced. "I think we agree neither of them need to see that. But we'll need to tell them about it."

"That's why we called you," Nat said. "I feel like we shouldn't tell anyone else before we tell them. Except perhaps Pepper."

She nodded. "I"ll handle it. James will know better but Tony may convince himself he wants to see it. JARVIS, no matter what he says, he cannot watch that video."

There was a pause, then JARVIS replied. "I am a computer program, Dr. Newbury. I will try, but I cannot unilaterally disobey the man who wrote my code. If I could, I'd have done it for Ms. Potts years go."

Amanda glanced at the ceiling and huffed in annoyance.

"JARVIS," Nat said before the other woman could get in an argument with JARVIS. "Delete this copy of it from all your servers." She looked at the others. "Now if he wants it, he'll have to work for it."

"I can only delete things for people with administrative override."

Something several of them had in the future. Amanda even had override access to open or turn off Tony's suits. "Please tell me there's more than one of those."

"Currently Col. Rhodes, Ms Potts, and Mr. Bennet have the required access."

Amanda scrubbed a hand over her face. "Right. You guys decide which one of those you want to tell. I'm going to go talk to James and Tony."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those that might ask, the full scene of Amanda’s meeting with Pierce will be in her and Bucky’s story, Your World is Mine.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2020 really is the gift that keeps on giving, innit?

Tony was doing everything over again. It was faster, working from memory than scratch. But it was boring. He'd started to wonder if he'd spend all of the next five years like this, never discovering anything new. But here he was, looking at video footage of the inside of a wormhole.

"I can't believe you put a camera on him," Bruce said. "And that he let you."

Jane shrugged. "I can be persuasive when I need to." Without looking at any of them, she added, "Get your minds out of the gutter." Thor had gone up to Asgard to see his parents the other day, and Jane managed to film the inside of the bifrost, and all of Team Science was mesmerized. 

Most of Team Science. "JARVIS, is Doc done her nooner yet? I think she'd like this."

"She is, sir. She has requested a private moment with you."

"Tell her there's a wormhole down here."

Amanda appeared in the doorway a few moment's later. "I sincerely hope that's not a euphemism for something."

"I filmed the inside of the bifrost," Jane said. "Well, Thor did."

Amanda came to stand next to them, watching the video a moment. "Very colorful. Tony, I need to talk to you."

He didn't like the tone in her voice, and he looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"Bruce, Jane, can we have a second?" The clearly heard the same thing in her voice, because they cleared out without a word.

When they were alone, Amanda looked at him solemnly. "Nat and Sharon were going through Hydra stuff. They found some things about your parents."

He leaned against the table behind him. "I feel like if it were wildly incriminating evidence of their murder, you'd be happier. If it's about my father's affairs, I know and wouldn't be surprised if I didn't."

She sighed. "Hydra killed your parents because they felt Howard was onto them. Stane was in on the planning. Pierce gave the order. And they sent the Winter Soldier to do it."

Tony stared at her, not quite processing that. "To run a car off the road? They thawed him for that? That can't be true. Steve and I talked about this once."

"According to one of the emails your dad had something Pierce wanted confiscated. Important enough to send the Soldier." Tony opened his mouth to protest again and she cut him off. "There's a video, Tony. It's true."

"I want to see it."

"No," she said firmly. "You don't."

"Don't handle me, Doc." He glanced up. "JARVIS, you got this thing?”

"I'm afraid the copy on my hard drives has been deleted," JARVIS replied.

"I'm absolutely going to handle you," Amanda said. "Because there is no way you need to watch your mother get strangled to death by a man you consider a friend. And the fact that you think you do really makes me want to revisit the therapist conversation."

His mouth was dry, and he was pretty sure JARVIS was about to complain about his heart rate. "What do you mean, strangled my mother? It was a car crash. Was that faked?"

He could see her swallow, but her mouth tightened up. "He ran them off the road but they survived the crash. I'm assuming your father had safety features on the car that weren't standard. The Soldier had to finish the job up close." She paused, watching him carefully. "James has no memory of it. At all. He was shocked when I told him. He remembers Howard as his friend from the war, nothing else."

Tony leaned on the table again and looked at the ceiling, just to not have to make eye contact. "I know. They wiped his mind a lot."

"They did." She was silent a moment and he continued to stare at the ceiling, taking deep breaths. "If you want us to go, give you some space, we can do that. I'd totally understand."

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "Of course not."

She was quiet again. Then she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Tony."

Amanda wasn't really one to hug. It must have rattled her pretty bad, too. "We're a family. We'll figure it out."

"We will." They hung onto each other a little while, until she rubbed his back briskly and leaned away. "I had JARVIS call Pepper. She's on her way home. Figured you'd need her."

He nodded, then squared his shoulders. "Can I see the paper trail or am I not allowed near any of this now?"

She seemed to consider a moment. "I think it's a bad idea, but I won't stop you. Nat and Sharon are compiling it to present it to Fury. You could wait for the cliff notes version."

"I don't want to be kept out of the loop because people are trying to protect me. I'm not that fragile."

"Fair enough. Two of the guys involved are dead already, so prepare yourself for some impotent rage."

"Isn't revenge a dish best served cold?"

"I prefer it with a side of arsenic."

He could feel himself smile, just a little. "All right. I'm going to go find Pepper."

"Good. I'll see you later."

Feeling at loose ends once she was gone, Tony went upstairs to Ruby's room, where she was napping. He was content to just stand there in the doorway for a bit and watch his daughter sleep.

"Hi," Pepper said quietly from behind him, and he felt her hand on his back.

"Hi." He swallowed and cleared his throat. "Got the debrief?"

"I did." She tucked her arms around his waist to hug him from behind. "You wanna talk about it?"

He blew out a breath. "I always thought. . . there was something off about it, you know? No alcohol in Howard's system, empty road. But accidents happen, right? And I was in such shape afterwards. Maybe if I'd looked into it. Maybe if I'd read his notes instead of shoving them in the basement."

"Sharon told me the notes indicate that was deliberate. That's why they didn't kill your father alone, which would have been much easier. They wanted to destabilize you, so you wouldn't look. That man who got you high at their funeral was a Hydra agent."

That certainly explained a lot. "Good to know I was important enough to completely fuck with."

She let go and then tugged on his arm. "Violet told me that Ada asks complicated questions, and is apparently still doing it even at this age. You give her a piece of information and she extrapolates in every direction. I always though, I bet that's what you were like as a kid."

"Went through five nannies in a year because of that."

"That ability to. . . think around corners is what made you dangerous. It's something, as far as I can tell, that your father didn't have."

He considered a moment. "No. I'm not saying it wasn't a good strategy. Ten minutes with Dad's notes and I'd have known something was up. Then they probably would have killed me, too. It's just. . . they killed my mom because of me."

He could hear Pepper inhale, like those dots hadn't entirely connected. She pulled him into their bedroom across the hall, and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Nuzzling into her shoulder, he took a deep breath of her scent, relaxing into her grip. "Doc thought it was unhealthy that I wanted to see the tape."

"Yes. Yes it absolutely is." She leaned back and made him look at her. "Tony, I saw my mother die and I wish I hadn't—and that was cancer, not a brutal murder." 

"I thought it would be . . . closure. Thought I admit it was before I found out he actually killed her with his bare hands."

She studied him for a moment. "You want to go to California for a little while? Get out of this house?"

He sighed and tipped his head back. "I don't know. I don't think so. There's so much to do here. And. . ." He poked around at his feelings, trying to get a handle on them. "I'd miss the guys."

That made her smile. "That's probably good. So you don't get lost in your own head."

"I'm sure the rest of them will keep me in line. Foster's got a video of a black hole."

Pepper smiled. "If everyone is staying together, you should probably go talk to Barnes. Even if it's just to say 'hey, let's never discuss this again'. Or else dinner is going to be awkward."

He blew out a breath. "Yeah. What do I say if he tries to apologize?"

"He probably will. What you say depends on what you feel. You could insist you don't need it, or accept it and offer forgiveness, or you could just say thank you, which doesn't commit you to anything other than basic manners."

That was both helpful and not, but probably the best he was going to get. Pepper was not one to spoon feed him solutions. "Guess I should get on with it."

"Don't pick a fight," she said. "He's a supersoldier."

"I know, I know. Steve and Doc would probably take his side anyway." He kissed her cheek. "Order something comforting for dinner. Maybe with gravy."

"I promise."

Tony headed out into the main part of the house and over to the bedroom the Barneses were using. Taking a fortifying breath, he tapped lightly on the door. After a moment it opened, and Barnes was on the other side. After a moment of silence, he said, "I'll give you a free punch."

That was, admittedly, kind of tempting. Still. Doc was his friend. "I'd probably just hurt my hand."

"If you hit bone, probably." He stepped back. "Come on in."

He stepped into the room, a little surprised to see Amanda wasn't there. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Pepper suggested I come talk. So dinner isn't completely awkward. I've sat at too many of those to be the cause of another."

"They programmed me," he said after a moment. "Like you would one of your robots. They had commands, once they activated them I had no free will—and no memory. They only did it when couldn't be made to comply by other methods. I guess they didn't like using it because I was a zombie; no judgement and little sense of self preservation."

Tony nodded. He imagined it whatever had been left of Barnes had balked at the idea of going after Howard. "Look, I'm a big fan of burying all my trauma, so I'm fine with never discussing this again. It was done to both of us by other, very bad people, who we have already dedicated our lives to stopping. We can cry and drink about it or we can tell them to fuck off and bring their little club to its knees. I know which option I prefer."

"Vengeance is right there in our name."

"See? Practically a job description." He paused, studying him a moment. "You want a new arm?"

Barnes hesitated, which meant yes. "It's cybernetic, it's actually implanted in there, changing it might require surgery."

"Geez, if only we knew a talented surgeon we both trust."

Barnes looked down at his metal hand. "When we were all having those vision of our worst fears, mine was that it malfunctioned, or someone else was controlling it, and I strangled Amanda." He looked back up. "Afterwards thought about asking you or Thor to blast it off."

Tony had a lot of experience worrying about losing people he loved. Having to worry that he'd be the one to hurt or kill them was a level of horror he really didn't think he could handle. "I'll start working on some schematics. Once all the spying is done and you don't have to play zombie for Pierce anymore, we'll get you something new. And we can shoot that thing into space or something."

Barnes smiled. "Thank you. And. . . I am sorry. Even thought I don't remember. I'm sorry an evil asshole used my hands to kill your parents." 

Turned out the apology he'd been dreading wasn't as bad as he'd thought. And, now that he was standing here, he didn't feel any hate for Barnes. He'd been the bullet someone else fired. Blaming him was a distraction from the real murderer. He wasn't sure he could get all of that out without embarrassing himself. So he just nodded and held his hand out for a hand shake.


	4. Chapter 4

The group of them talked about it, and it was decided that Sharon would take the report to Fury. The was better Clint and Nat stayed out of it. She convinced Steve to come along.

They gathered up copies of all the letters and other evidence and headed into the office. Steve wore civilian clothes, which was kind of weird. She didn't remember if she'd ever seen him at the Trisk in khakis. She did get to ride on the back of his motorcycle, so that was fun.

"I missed this thing. Forgotten how much I liked it."

"If you want to keep it, consider my vote in favor," she said, shaking her hair out after removing her helmet.

Steve grinned. "Just to watch you do that."

"Is that all it takes?" she teased, grabbing her bag off the back as they headed into the building.

He straightened his shoulders. "Time to be professional."

"You wanna take the stairs?" she teased letting him hold the door for her.

"Hey, I know I can survive the jump."

"I don't think I'd enjoy the ride down."

They took the elevator without comment from Steve. It was probably more important they look normal than anything else. Fury's assistant waved them in and they found him waiting for them behind his desk, Hill and Coulson in his guest seats.

"Didn't know it was going to be a party," Sharon said, nodding to the others.

"I'd just have to tell them later," Fury said. "And I'm lazy."

Sharon and Steve took their seats. "I'm afraid I don't have enough copies for the class, but here's the email chain Nat told you about. It's a conversation between Pierce, Mitchell Carson and Obadiah Stane regarding the murder of Howard and Maria Stark."

"That's the most clearly damning item," Steve said. "But there are reams of others. Howard Stark maintained a diary he recorded, encoded, all of his suspicions about this. Which were legion. There are indications of this in the Stark Industries archives going back to the 60's."

Fury took her file and flipped through it before passing it on to Hill, who looked at it much more thoroughly. "It's good. Good enough to take to the WSC. How are you doing ferreting out Hydra agents?"

"We've got a list," Sharon told him. "Majority are levels 4-6. the only eight we have is Clint, right now. Carson obviously was, but he died when the building came down when Loki showed up. There's a large contingent in the science and research group, who worked under him. Amanda is pretty sure she can get a full list now that Pierce trusts her."

"How did she manage that?" Coulson asked.

"He demanded to see the Asset," Steve said. "She turned it and ended up lecturing about his taste in doctors and his general health. He asked her to be his personal physician." Sharon could see the eyebrows go up, and Steve added, "None of you from the future, who have seen how she wrangles Tony Stark, would be surprised."

"Amanda could convince Eskimos they have heat stroke," Sharon added. "In any case, I trust she can get a list in the next couple of days. We haven't found any evidence of low level agents who've been compromised. I'm guessing they aren't worth the risk unless they have some sort of skill or position they can exploit."

"The level sevens will pose the largest problem, as they tend to have a lot of direct reports." Steve said. "And we're not entirely certain we've identified them all."

"Not to divert," Hill said. "But are we sure these emails are legitimate? They are very blatant, and not even using any kind of codes."

"Considering the age of the parties involved," Coulson said, "They may not have really. . . understood email."

Sharon nodded. "Nineteen ninety one, it would have been brand new, likely run through internal servers, which they had access to. They wouldn't have considered it any higher risk than a phone call."

"Right, right, complain about the old farts," Fury said. 

"Hey, this time it works in our favor."

"I'm going to take this in," Fury said. "The rest of you circle up and come up with some options for what comes next. We'll meet again tomorrow morning, same time."

"Sounds good," Sharon said as the rest of them stood. It was clear they were dismissed, so they filed out. 

"Any thoughts?" Coulson asked.

"Nuke it from orbit," Hill said. "It's the only way to be sure."

"The fallout from that last time was really bad," Steve said. "And it was my idea to do it."

"Are we going to be open about the fact Hydra was here?" Sharon asked. "Or try to do it completely secretive."

Coulson shook his head. "I'm guessing the Security Council will want trials. For some of them, at least. It'll be good PR. 'We found these counter agents and ferreted them out, look how great we are.'"

"We're not going to have solid evidence agains everyone," Sharon said. "Some of them are going to need to be dealt with behind the scenes."

"I don't want to be discussing this in the hallway," Hill said. "We'll come over to to the Avengers McMansion this evening and hash this out."

That was probably a good idea. "I'll order extra for dinner," she told them.

They rode Steve's motorcycle back home. Halfway there, they got pulled over by a cop on a motorcycle himself.

Sharon could feel Steve tense, watching the cop in his mirrors. If it was even actually a cop. There was something uncomfortably coincidental about the timing. "You armed?" he asked quietly.

"Just a knife," she said, casually stretching and letting her hand settle on her leg so she could reach for it.

"Had to leave the damn shield at home," he muttered.

The cop approached them. "Are you aware that riding a motorcycle without a helmet is-" He broke off, and then his visor popped up, revealing an astonished face. "Captain America?"

Sharon bit down on a laugh as Steve plastered on his USO smile. "Yes, sir, but I prefer Steve."

"It's. . . it's an honor to meet you. Sir." He cleared his throat. "You were frozen in ice very long and so you may not be aware, but these days it is not legal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, though I'm sire it was in your day."

"Ah," Steve said. "Yes indeed. Sorry about that. I assume there is a ticket?"

"Yes. No! I don't need to give you a ticket. Just a warning. And honestly, I'm sure your superpowered skull would count as a helmet anyway."

Sharon couldn't resist adding, "He does have a very hard head."

Steve covered a laugh with a cough. "Thank you officer, I really appreciate it."

"No, no, it's no problem. If I gave you a ticket I'd never live if down."

"Have great day," Steve said cheerfully.

The man headed back to his bike and Sharon kissed the back of Steve's shoulder. "You rebel."

"Required helmets," he muttered as he kicked the bike back on.

"Helmets save lives," she teased. Steve gunned it and took off without comment.

When they got home, she delighted in telling everyone how Steve famed his way out of a ticket before they told how the meeting with Fury had gone. Nat had gotten it in her head she wanted to cook, and Sharon gamely offered to help, along with Violet, Neil strapped to her chest. They roped in Bruce, Darcy, and Cal as they went and pretty soon the kitchen was full of people and laughter and good smells.

It was one of those things that felt very normal. More like a family Thanksgiving than a meal being prepared to discuss a large and very dangerous Op.

Coulson and Hill arrived just as they were finishing, and seemed a little perplexed by the vibe. There wasn't a table big enough for everyone, so they ate sprawled around the living room. Tony and Pepper's nanny took he kids so everyone could be a part of the conversation.

"Having Peirce publicly outed is not politically possible," Hill said. "Fury was very clear on that. Unless we all want 24/7 press coverage and a pap smear from congress."

"He said proctology exam," Coulson commented, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

"Because he's a man, and that's the worst he could think of," Hill replied. "All a proctologist does is feel. A gyno has to actually look."

"Okay, but that's a place where at least something is intended to-"

"There's a thing that holds it open," Nat said, making a motion with her hands vaguely imitating a speculum. "It's metal and it's cold."

This revelation caused Coulson and several of the other men make absolutely hilarious faces.

"Speaking of Pierce and medical procedures," Amanda said brightly. "I got his medical history today and it gave me an idea."

" _Please_ tell us and change the subject," Tony said, still looking at Nat in horror.

"I know we're still not sure we have all the upper level lieutenants. So I was thinking. Why don't we kill Pierce in a way that looks natural and see what happens in the power vacuum?"

"That sounds. . . dangerous," Steve said.

"How do we do it so it doesn't look suspicious?" Clint asked. 

"I can name three ways right now," Amanda replied.

Nat pointed a finger gun at her. "Go."

"He has a pacemaker. That particular model is hackable, it would be indistinguishable from a heart attack." She ticked off a second finger. "Epinephrine is commonly given by EMTs or hospital staff for a cardiac arrest. Stage a heart attack and give him a fatal dose." Third finger. "Standard bubble in the blood system. It's not fool proof, but he's an old man, which ups the odds of success."

"Which one is least likely to produce a vegetable situation?" Tony asked.

"The pacemaker. But if you want guaranteed death, you'd have to get more inventive. He was a smoker when he was younger, so if you could contain him and suck all the oxygen out of the room he'd suffocate, which would probably be chalked up to some sort of asthma attack."

"Are there options that don't contain the word probably?" Steve asked. "If we tip them off in any way, all hell could break loose."

She tipped her head back, considering. "If we put ground glass and snake venom in his food it would absorb through micro abrasions in his trachea, cause paralysis of the diaphragm and be untraceable in a standard autopsy."

"I really like you," Hill said.

"You found and hired me."

"Well I can see why," she replied.

Sometimes Sharon wondered, idly, how exactly Bucky and Amanda worked. What kind of woman could be with a man with his history. Especially a woman who had dedicated her life to healing. And then Amanda did shit like this and Sharon remembered the core of ruthlessness that lived within her.

"Which one do you think is likeliest to work and possible to pull off?" Nat asked.

"Hacking his pace maker or the snake thing," Amanda answered immediately, then tilted her head. "Actually, a combination of the pacemaker and epinephrine would be best. Time it to happen in front of me. I can 'try to save him'" She did exaggerated finger quotes. "And give him an overdose of epi."

"Are you comfortable doing this, Amanda?" Steve asked.

She looked him dead in the eye. "I have absolutely no problem killing the man who tortured my husband for decades."

"If we need to," Bruce asked, "do we have somewhere to send the non-combatants?"

Tony sighed. "Tower's under construction and I haven't bought the bunker yet. It'll have to be something new and there'll be a paper trail."

"What about my place?" Violet said. "Up in Connecticut."

"How much space do you have?"

She paused a moment, clearly having to remember. "Six bedrooms? We'd have to buy beds for some of them. There's also a big den downstairs, and it's all baby proofed."

"We'll make it work," Pepper said. "Darcy?"

"On it," she said, already taking notes. "I'll work with Violet to get it set up."

Steve looked at Tony. "We good to go?"

He nodded. "I'm caught up on the main weaponry. If we need to go to war, we can."

"We'll start with good old fashioned murder," Nat said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting rid of one's home-grown fascist is is quite the mood this week.

Darcy drove up to Connecticut the following afternoon to get Violet’s house in prepped to be their safehouse. It was quickly obvious it would be more work than she’d thought. The living spaces of Future Violet were immaculate, but this was a house of a woman with a high-needs baby whose husband just died. Nobody had much bandwidth for housekeeping in that situation. But it meant there was quite a bit to do—and it was a huge house.

“Pepper offered to help,” Violet volunteered when it became clear they needed that. 

“She’s too famous,” Darcy replied. “I think if this house is publicly connected to the Avengers it will be useless as a safehouse.” She pulled out her phone. “Pepper’s checkbook is helping plenty, though.” They had furniture to buy, and they could call in housecleaners to scrub. But they needed help organizing and purging. So she texted Jane. _We need help. Come up here with anyone you can grab who isn’t working or famous._

Jane was there just just after dinner time, with Sam and Riley in tow. “Tony wouldn’t let me have Cal. I tried.”

"No, I know. He has to kill a guy with hacking. Thanks for coming, guys."

Riley gave her a little salute. "Still not dying in the desert, I'm at your disposal.”

“Mostly we need you to carry things,” Violet said.

"I'm very good at that, ma'am." Interesting that Violet got a ma'am. Darcy supposed she was lucky he wasn't calling her “miss."

“I also hope you’re good at sleeping on the floor,” Darcy said. “Because we don’t have enough beds yet.”

"I'm excellent at roughing it. Point us to the heavy lifting.”

Violet’s late husband had been quite the pack rat. It wasn’t overwhelming but there were just so many rooms to have things stashed in them. They made the local Goodwill very happy with the donate-able things, and called 1-800-JUNK for the rest. 

Darcy and Cal both had kind of a penchant for stuff, but he was worse than her. The shelves of computer equipment and tools he might use someday went to the ceiling in his office in the tower. She could only imagine someday having to go through it all after he was gone, and how hard that would be. Nothing was guaranteed, of course, but she expected she’d outlive him. She was younger, and she was a woman, and catastrophic injuries shortened the lifespan.

Of course, in this version of life, he hadn’t and wouldn’t have his back broken.

That was hard to wrap her head around, more than anything. It wasn't that she defined Cal by his injury. But it did sort of effect their life of a daily basis. She knew to arrange their weekends so he wouldn't have to stand or walk far two days in a row. When he had a bad day at work she knew to have his ice and heat packs ready. She'd gotten to the point that she could tell from his breathing and groans how many pills to bring him. None of that was relevant anymore. He had the body of a healthy, nerdy twenty-something. It was great, but involved a lot of readjusting in her head.

When they’d come east to wire the house up in advance of the move, she’d watched him pull wires from crawl spaces, climb ladders, cut drywall, and haul equipment into the house—and then been very surprised when all he needed was some dinner and a beer to be up for fooling around. 

In retrospect, when she’d had to go to urgent care that week for a UTI, she was surprised only that it had take that long.

“So, what kind of beds _are_ we getting?” She and Jane had gone mattress shopping. There was a store in town that promised same day delivery. “Do we assume everyone will end up here?”

"For not just the non-combatants, though most of us had a partner that may or may not show up eventually, so a collection of twin beds probably wouldn't be appreciated. It's Pepper and Tony's money, they'd tell us to get a dozen top of the line king beds and call it a day, but it seems like a waste to only sleep in them a few days.”

Jane looked at the list she had, which Darcy had made listing rooms and their dimensions. “Four empty bedrooms, but I think only two of them are big enough to take a king. The third could do a queen but the last one will need to have, like, bunk beds to put more than one person in there. You could get two kings in that bonus room in the attic. . . if they could get up the stairs. I think the den/library could also fit a king, but the office by the kitchen is another twin situation.” She looked up. “You wrote four question marks next to the basement. Is it finished down there?”

She waggled a hand back and forth. "It's not carpeted or painted. But it's drywalled and labeled as a bonus room on her original plans. We'd have to rig up some temporary walls or something if we put anyone down there.”

A salesman was walking towards them, and Jane called out, “We’re just looking, we’ll let you know if we need help,” before he got too close. Then she went over and sat on the edge of one of the beds. “There is going to need to be some doubling up and some sleeping in the family room if everyone ends up at the house.” She flopped backwards. “We should have taken a poll of who needs privacy after a mission.”

"Oh, we've lived with them long enough I bet we can figure it out." Darcy ticked off a finger. "Steve and Sharon do, for sure. I say we give them the basement, line the floor with mattresses and call it a day.”

Jane laughed. “Yeah. Amanda and Bucky will want privacy, too. Maybe we’ll put them in the attic. And Bartons in the bedroom over the garage.”

"Yeah, they need space. Violet and Bruce are in the master. Tony and Pepper should probably get one, since they're bankrolling.”

“They’ll need one of the bigger ones, they have the baby.” She squinted at the ceiling. “Ignoring the ones with the twins, that leaves one bedroom and the den.” She glanced and Darcy. “I’ll take the den, it’s got more space. Thor’s feet will hang off a queen.”

Darcy raised an eyebrow. “There’s not that much privacy.”

“We’ll survive. We’re kind of in a fight anyway.”

"Oh? Anything you want to talk about?”

“I don’t know what there is to talk about. He wants to go home. Because of his mother and because of all the inter-realm fighting stuff that made him stay up there after the first Battle of New York.”

"Couldn't he just go do that for a while? And you could join him when we're done with the Hydra bullshit?”

“He probably would if Tony and Steve didn’t need him. But I don’t want to go to Asgard.”

"Ever?" Darcy asked.

“Everything else I love is down here. Nobody up there likes me, at all. It doesn’t sound like a fun way to live. Especially with him out fighting half the time.”

Attitudes up there must be really bad to out weigh the potential geeking out Jane could do on all the magic tech. "That really is a fight with no end, isn't it?”

“Yeah,” she said, and sighed. “It seems like everybody’s life was improved by their trip to the past, but I don’t think mine was.” 

This really was the shittiest time for Jane. At least this time they could skip the trip to London and the ill advised affair with Ian. "So do Cal and I get a big-kid bed? I think I lost count.”

“You get the room with the queen.”

She gave her a thumbs up. "We can make that work. So Sam and Riley get bunk beds?”

Jane shrugged. “It’s probably an improvement over the sleeping bags they had last night.”

"We'll get them really nice twin mattresses.”

“I think we’re set,” Jane said. “Lets go tell that guy that if he works on commission he’s about to have a _great_ day.”

Because of how many there were, the beds couldn’t all be delivered until the following day. Cal showed up that morning, to Darcy’s delight, with security things to install. He and a hologram of Stark spent the better part of the day getting that all set up.

“Pacemaker hack all ready?” she asked him that night, curled up in their queen bed—which was plenty big enough.

“Yep. I am now officially an accomplice to attempted murder.”

"And how does that sit with you?”

He looked over at her a moment. “The physical injuries being erased by space magic didn’t make me forget laying in the dark for two days waiting to die. I have no problem helping kill the man responsible.” 

She reached over and rubbed his back gently. Some habits died hard. "Yeah. Amanda seems to be very much on the retribution track." She paused. "I was thinking, today, how much of our lives revolved around your back. Not that I begrudged it, or anything. But now that I don't have to worry about it I realize how much I used to.”

He grinned. “I can’t even tell you how weird it feels. To not hurt at the end of the day. To not have my legs fall asleep six times a day. It’s trippy.”

"Do you think you'll have a better relationship with your mom?" she asked. "Since there won't be that whole helpless hospitalized thing?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I still remember that, even if she doesn’t.”

"True." She paused to work on a tight spot on his shoulder. "You can set your boundaries with them a little earlier.”

“Hey, they probably won’t hassle me about my love life.”

"Or your job! Assistant to Tony Stark is nothing to sneeze at.”

“Honestly, they probably would have been impressed by SHIELD at the time, if I’d been able to tell them.”

She moved from his shoulders to playing with his hair. "I'm debating tracking down my dad earlier or not. And how to approach it this time.”

“Do it slowly instead of the doorstep method?”

"Yeah. Maybe a nice letter to start with. I mean, it all worked out in the end, but if one is given a do over why not take it, you know?”

“That seems to be the theme lately.”

"As a science fiction fan, I'm sure it's all going to bite us in the ass. But sitting back and doing nothing just doesn't seem right. Also, no dropping a building on anyone. Big plus.”

“The future will be different,” Cal said with a shrug. “No reason to think it will be worse. Just different.”

"I think we made out rather well, all things considered. No back injury, and we get to start dating younger.”

He tucked her hair behind her ear. “I suppose we should wait a few years before getting married.”

"Or," she said. "We elope and piss off both families equally. Then, we quietly start betting pools on when we'll get divorced and clean up.”

Cal laughed and leaned over to kiss her. “I love you, I really do.”

"I love you, too," she told him, winding her arms around his neck. "I'm glad we're stuck in the past together, at least.”

With the house prepped for evacuees whenever it was needed, they all went back down to DC. It took nearly a week for the World Security Council to review what Nick Fury had brought them and make decision. 

Then one evening, Maria Hill showed up at dinner time like she’d been been sent a precisely timed invite. “It’s been decided to keep Director Fury out of the official chain of command, for safety in case this blows up.” She pulled out a SHEILD encrypted thumb drive, the tiny ones they used to transfer highly classified information. “The only instructions I was given was to deliver this to Romanov and Barton. I expect it’s your kill orders.”

Nat reached over and took it from her, glancing over at Steve. "Deja vu?”

He exhaled. “Only way forward is through.”

Nat went and got a laptop and brought it back to the living room where they were eating and popped the drive in. After clicking a few times she asked, "Amanda, when can you get a meeting with Pierce?"

"I'm updating him on the Asset in two days.”

“We’re ready,” Stark said. “As long as your watch is in range, I’ll be able to access his pacemaker and detonate remotely.”

"Sounds like Thursday is the day," she said.

"You're sure you're all right with this," Steve asked.

"I assure you, I have no problem watching him die and making sure it sticks.”

“Are you okay pretending to try and save him if people show up?” Bucky asked.

"I'll have the overdose of epi all ready to go." The silence seemed vaguely skeptical. "Guys, seriously, despite how I make it look, it's way easier to let someone die than save them.”

“And the world doesn’t know you yet,” Stark commented. “There’s no Doc yet. Nobody would expect miracles.”

"I think there was a compliment in there somewhere, so thank you. I can get this done. Trust me.”

“I wasn’t questioning your nerves,” Bucky said, teasing. “Just your acting skills.”

"Less acting and more bluster. I just yell until everyone believes me.”

“Are we moving up north now?” Pepper asked. “I’d like to stay here as long as possible, it’s easier to work.”

“Right now we’re just seeing what bubbles up,” Steve replied. “This shouldn’t raise any red flags, he’s 80.”

"We won't move anyone until we start fully purging Hydra, or we think they're onto us," Nat said. "For now the more normal we seem, the better.”

“Well,” Hill said. “I will see you on Thursday.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: The scene where Amanda kills Pierce will be in her and Bucky's story. Which should have been long written by now, but 2020 and all.

News of Pierce's death hit Thursday evening. The funeral was planned for over a week out, since it was going to be a big affair - national hero, buried in Arlington, international dignitaries attending, the whole nine yards. Steve and some of the others were planning to attend, bot because it would be expected of them and because watching the crowd might give some clues on who was next on the Hydra hierarchy.

It kind of galled Bucky that they had to go pretend to mourn, but he consoled himself with the fact the man was dead. He'd resisted interrogating Amanda for the juicy details, but she assured him she'd had time to tell the man why he was dying, and hadn't gone easily. It was enough, it had to be.

They kept on as usual, which meant he and Amanda and a handful of others spent a couple days at their hideout, just in case someone came to check up on them. Pierce liked to keep things close to the chest, but Bucky knew multiple people were involved in the Asset's management. Someone else was bound to be curious.

Sure enough, the Monday after Pierce's death, a man with grey hair and a well-tailored suit strolled in like he owned the place. Riley had spotted him on the cameras long before he'd entered and Bucky had noticed Amanda's whole demeanor change when he saw him, but hadn't had a chance to ask why before they had to get in place.

"Dr. Newbury, I presume," he said, in a vague accent Bucky couldn't place.

She crossed her arms. "Have we met?”

“I wouldn’t be presuming if we had.” He extended a hand. “The name’s Conrad.”

She looked at his hand like it was a dead rat, but reached out and shook it. "Conrad. What are you doing in my lab?”

“I came because I am interested in your work, and how it might fit into the new dynamics that will emerge.”

Bucky had to keep a flat effect and more or less stare into the middle distance to keep his cover, but he noticed Sam and Riley exchange a look and Sam shifted to start recording the conversation.

Amanda seemed to have gotten her feet under her. "You mean my work with the Asset? I don't know that now is the time to be sending him out on missions. Pierce's body isn't even cold.”

“We’re at war, Dr. Newbury. Now isn’t the time to get sentimental. Though I am mostly here to talk about the fact that we only have the one asset.”

She tilted her head. "Director Pierce and I didn't agree on everything, but I did appreciate his habit of getting directly to the point. I'd prefer if you got to yours."

He strolled over towards Bucky, studying him. "You are the world's foremost expert in Erskine's serum. The full details of the formula were lost when he was shot, and no one has managed to replicate it."

"Erskine had a frustrating habit of not keeping complete notes. And for romanticizing in the ones he did keep. Getting useful information out of them is difficult, to say the least.”

“Indeed. The closest we got to success was twenty years ago. Howard Stark was part of the original team that made Captain America, and he seemed to have gotten pretty close.” He stopped in front of Bucky, who had to unfocus his eyes to keep from making eye contact. “Then he grew a conscience and we had to retrieve our product by force.” He patted Bucky’s cheek and it was a miracle he didn’t flinch. “This one didn’t retrieve any of his notes.”

"Careful Mr. Conrad," Amanda said, ice in her tone. "Mishandle him and you'll deal with me."

Conrad turned to look at her and Bucky seriously considered snapping his neck.

"It's really best not to get attached, Dr. Newbury," he chided.

Bucky could see her jaw clench and relax. "Talk to me like that again and you'll become unattached to your arm. In case you haven't noticed, Pierce left the Asset under my control. With him gone, I'm his handler. Which, if I'm not mistaken, puts me higher on the chain of command than you are. I don't take orders from you, Mr. Conrad. And you are certainly not in charge of what direction my research takes.”

“Who is in charge of what is still sorting itself out. I expect we will all need to prove our continued devotion to the cause. I think we have similar goals, and could help each other.”

"Mmm. Do you have a background in microbiology? Chemistry? Pharmacology? Any history with medical research at all?" Conrad's eyes narrowed and she smiled. "Doesn't sound like you have much help to offer me.”

“Ah, there is one thing.”

"What might that be?”

He turned back to face Bucky again. “I can get you access to the man who made him.”

The Asset had a reputation for responding strangely when certain things where mentioned. Certain triggers. Amanda’s best theory is those had been flashes of what was left of Bucky inside the Winter Soldier’s programming, wrenched to the surface when a memory touched something that preceded his brainwashing. His handlers had learned the hard way he needed to be sedated before letting Zola see him, lest there be violence.

Mostly it was currently a fantastic excuse to un-zombie himself. He turned his head and focused on Conrad. “Zola,” Bucky growled, in a voice that promised violence. The restraints on his arms were fake, held together by nothing more than plastic clips for show. It made for great dramatic effect when he wrenched his metal arm up, the restraint splitting and pieces flying. Conrad stepped back but it was too late. Bucky had him by the throat. 

Sam said, "Shit," then he and Riley came over to try to peel him, off, playing their part.

Over Conrad's shoulder, he caught Amanda's eye. She didn't currently have her "Hyrda scientist" act on and he could see she was clearly tempted to just let him strangle the man. He wasn't entirely sure who this guy was, but if she wasn't going to stop him. . .

She sighed and said, " _Soldat. Ostanovit' yego._

He trusted her, of course, so he let go immediately. There was fear in Conrad’s eyes now, at least.

"If I decide I want to meet your little ghost in the machine, I'll let you know," she told Conrad, steel replacing the ice in her voice. "For now, I thank you to leave my lab.”

Sam and Riley came over, flanking him. “We’ll see you out.”

She held the man's gaze until the others ushered him out of the door. Then she sagged and reached out for Bucky. He caught her up in his arms and pulled her close. “You all right?”

"That was the man who kidnapped me," she said, voice muffled in his shoulder. "After Jessie's wedding.”

Bucky stilled, now very much wishing he’d squeezed. “Why didn’t you let me kill him?”

"He had allies. He's more likely to lead us to them if he's alive. And it might be useful to have a non-violent way to get to Zola." She leaned back and scrubbed a hand over her face. "Plus I want it known that I have the Asset under my control. It'll keep other people from hassling me.”

“I’ll keep people from hassling you.”

She frowned a little. "That's. . . kind of what I said?”

He stepped back and rubbed his forehead. “Sorry. This whole Asset. . . replay is fucking with my head.”

"I'm sorry. Hopefully it'll be over soon." She leaned in and kissed him. "Let's go home. I'm so done with today.”

“I could not agree more.”

Sam and Riley were very much in favor of calling it a day. The drive back to the house was quiet, and a little tense, but Amanda hung onto his hand in the back seat. There then had to be a debrief, of course, which he wasn’t in the mood for, but was impossible to ignore.

After the others had wandered off to do whatever they did all day, they were left alone in one of the dens with Nat and Clint.

"So, we're gonna kill that guy, right?" Nat asked.

Amanda was still holding his hand. "Not just him, I would imagine.”

“We’re going to need to make some lists,” Clint said. “Who can be arrested and who has to be eliminated.”

"We're going to need to run it," Bucky said. "Steve won't stop us. But he's not going to make the call himself.”

“That’s completely fine. There’s a reason the order on Pierce came to Nat and I.”

"We need to differentiate between the punch clock villains and the true believers," Amanda said. "Conrad's clearly one of the latter. But even in our time there were plenty of Hydra people who were there for a paycheck.”

“I have about as much patience for that as they did at Nuremberg,” Bucky commented.

"Yes, well. If they get caught in the cross fire I won't cry. But they aren't the people who'll start up a terrorist cell once we take out the big names.”

“Let’s call it a list of who we _must_ take out,” Nat said. “It’s a floor, not a ceiling.”

Bucky inclined his head. “Fair.” He paused. “I want Conrad. And Zola.”

“Done,” Clint said. “Though Zola is probably going to be something really anticlimactic like cutting a power line.”

"Don't under estimate how satisfying pulling a plug can be," Amanda commented. "There's a group of science people I want to put on the list.”

“We’ll start putting that together,” Nat said, and then she looked at the three of them. “Of the list, as many as we can take out simultaneously, the better. Though this is likely to make some people in this house _very_ put out, I think only those of us who actually work for SHIELD and do have some cover of official authorization should handle the opening executions. In case it goes sideways, we won’t be exposed to, say, murder charges like the civilians.”

"Should we bring Sharon in on it?" Amanda asked. "She strikes me as capable of an execution.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Nat said.

“Steve too,” Bucky said, and then all looked at him. “I know he stress-tests the necessity and everybody’s consciences, but I’ve seen him kill up close in battle.” He held his hand up a foot in front of his face. “Just needs to be the right target.”

Clint looked over at Nat, who gave a little nod. "We'll make sure it's someone worth it."

"Sounds like the beginnings of a plan," Amanda said.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's March again! Or is it still March? I can't tell.

Making level 8 entitled even a field agent like Clint a private office. He didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do with it. Nat suggested the desk needed photos.

“Of you? Aren’t we still under wraps these days?”

She lounged in his guest chair and put her feet on the desk. She, at least, was enjoying it. “Nah. Fake family. Lovely wife, three kids—no, two kids, one on the way. Maybe there’s an ultrasound picture. School photos for the kids, and the obligatory wedding shot.” She made a gesture around her head. “Big hair. You were young, it was the ’90’s.”

There was nothing Clint loved more than detailed covers Nat spontaneously pulled out of her ass. “Were we high school sweethearts?” 

"She had a crush on you, but you were way too cool to notice her. When you came back from your tour overseas you couldn't help but see how nicely she'd grown up.”

“I love you that we’re pretending I was cool.”

"You look like you were cool. Not, like, star of the football team cool, but leather jacket, smoking behind the bleachers cool. Probably pranked the football field or something.”

“I was that angry kid who looked like he might blow up the school.” There was a knock on his door, and Clint called, “Come in.” The door opened, and Sitwell stepped inside. He stopped short when he saw Nat, and Clint added, “She’s with us.” The fishy look on his face told Clint this was a Hydra thing.

"Heil octopus," she said dryly, crossing her legs determinedly on the desk.

Sitwell made a face, then looked over at Clint. "Got a minute?”

“Have a seat.”

He eyed Nat warily as he stepped around her to take the other guest chair. And she hadn't even kicked him off a roof in this reality. "So. . . this is kind of awkward. But. . . are you thinking about making any kind of announcement or orders?”

It took effort not to look at Nat. “Is that. . .expected?”

"Well, it's just that, to the best of my knowledge you're the highest ranked member. No one else has stepped up to take the mantle, and you're in Fury's good graces, so. . .”

Clint stared at him, several odd encounters he’d had the last few days suddenly making sense. There were no other level 8’s. Carson was dead, Pierce was dead, and it seemed he was in charge.

_Holy shit._

“Unless you’re under fire, you bury your dead before you move on to the next mission,” Clint replied, because it was the best stall he could think of. 

To his relief, Sitwell nodded like he'd said something profound. "Understood." There was a beat of awkward silence. Sitwell glanced over at Nat who had propped her chin on her hand and covered her mouth with a couple fingers to hide was was almost certainly a very amused smirk. She raised a rather pointed brow at him and the weasel little man hopped to his feet and showed himself out.

Clint opened and closed his mouth, and went through a couple of facial expressions before finally just saying, “Huh.”

"So if you're the head of Hydra," Nat said slowly. "Do I have to assassinate you? Or is this were we switch sides and I get to be a proper henchwoman?”

He rubbed his forehead. “This is surreal.”

"This is hilarious. Remind me to record it when we tell the others.”

“Okay,” he said, drumming his fingers on the desk. “I think I am going to issue some orders. To reiterate I don’t want any power jockeying before the funeral. And the next person who goes to hassle the medical team looking after the Asset is going to be shot.”

"I'm sure Amanda and Bucky will appreciate that. And it'll get everyone to settle down while we do out work. Though it does sort of ruin our whole 'kill Pierce and see who bubbles up' plot.”

“This is what bubbled up.”

She rolled her head on her shoulders. "So much for that cut off the head and three more will rise thing, huh?”

“I think Pierce was such a control freak he couldn’t handle having too many lieutenants. We will certainly be able to use it.” He looked over at her. “I wonder if I could get a roll call.”

"It would be a natural thing to ask for. I just wonder if anyone could actually get an accurate one.”

“Sitwell is pretty officious, I bet he could.”

"True. And he seems to have some idea of who's who. And he'd like having a job to do. Keep him busy.”

It became a pattern. Sitwell wasn’t the only one. When John Garret came to see him he was clearly annoyed—as far as they knew, Clint’s tenure wasn’t very long, even if he was the most senior agent they could count among their numbers. 

He told the lies Nat spun for him. He’d been doing this as long as he was at SHIELD, but had been keeping it quiet. He got a little forceful with Garret and left him to pass the message along—that getting on Clint’s bad side was a good way to end up dead. 

There was something very satisfying about putting the fear he’d earned because of the Battle of New York to good use. Nobody wanted to cross him—he nearly took down a helicarrier with an arrow.

"I have to admit, I'm finding this growly Hydra leader cover kind of sexy," Nat told him in bed after her recounted his chat with Garret.

He turned to look at her. “You have always liked my dark side.”

She lifted a shoulder. "I have my own dark side. Sometimes it bothers me. I suppose seeing yours is. . . reassuring. That I'm not alone.”

“Still feels odd to deliberately put it to use.”

"It's part of us. Better to put it to good use. It's part of why we can do what we do.”

In the morning, Clint outright summoned Sitwell into his office—which, it seemed, had acquired some picture frames with a random family in them. Nat could insert humor anywhere.

“It’s become obvious to I think everyone that Pierce didn’t keep the best track of his ranks. I assume for reasons of secrecy, but I don’t like chaos. I want a roll call. Census. Whatever. I need to know our numbers, and our strengths.” 

Sitwell blinked. "I understand the reasoning, but having that written down. . . seems unwise.”

“I’m not saying write it on a post-it. Information can be encrypted, and have a different label. Pretend it's a secret op.”

He still looked a little skeptical, but nodded. "I'll get on it."

“Or I’ll find somebody else.” Now they’d see what this stirred up. And, just maybe, get them a real working list.

They attended Pierce's funeral, which was a regular who's-who of international politics. Even Peggy came, in a wheelchair manned by Sharon and Steve. Clint didn't know how much they'd caught her up, but she was still sharp enough to smile and chat with those who came up to her.

Nat stood next to Clint, in a prim navy dress, looking suitably somber. A few people came up to him and had double entendre laced discussions. But for the most part nothing surprising happened. Fury gave a eulogy and probably deserved an Oscar for how sincere he sounded.

"At least fifty percent of that was movie quotes," Nat murmured. "Betcha Hill wrote it.”

Clint laughed. “It’s nice to know some things never change.”

Afterwards, they headed back to the McMansion, where Fury and the others met them after taking a circuitous route in case they were being followed. That hadn't changed either.

They sat around the living room and had cake and cookies that Nat had made, listening to Peggy and occasionally Fury tell stories of the old days of SHIELD and the SSR that had preceded it. 

“I’m still appalled what was going on under my nose all those years.” After almost 70 years in the US, you could still hear the British accent in her voice. 

“Pierce snowballed a lot of people,” Fury said. “Including me.”

“Yes, but I actually hired him. Most of the other people in this shenanigan I can blame on Howard, but Pierce was my doing.”

"It's not clear when he was seduced by Hydra," Sharon offered. "It's possible he was corrupted after he joined SHIELD, not before.”

She smiled a little. “Let’s go with that.” She looked at the group and her eyes settled on Clint and Nat. “I meant to ask Sharon earlier—how did you do it? Pierce, I mean. There doesn’t seem to have been a hint of foul play.”

Clint smirked, because everyone always assumed they did the assassinating, and pointed to Amanda. “She doctored him to death.”

Peggy looked over at her, clearly interested. Amanda sipped her tea. "Tony and Cal wrote a code to hack his pacemaker. While it was going crazy I gave him an overdose of epinephrine and he had a fatal heart attack.”

“Impressive. I love technology. Didn’t expect a doctor to do assassinations, but I can understand why you would in this case.”

"Doc's not your average doctor," Tony said.

"If ever there was a man who deserved to die, it was Pierce.”

“I still can’t believe the World Security Council actually signed off on that.”

Fury shrugged. “There may have been a little blackmail involved.”

"New York nuke?" Tony asked.

“I recorded that,” Hill said proudly.

“I told them you had it,” Fury said to Tony. “Server hacking or something. That you were gunning for Pierce, who’d pretty specifically used his special assassin to kill your parents, and were ready to go public with it. I said this could be handled quietly, or it could be handled live on CNN, what would you prefer? They suddenly felt very cooperative.”

“Wait, hold on,” Peggy said. “What was that part about the assassin?”

Bucky shifted uncomfortably and Clint saw Amanda put a reassuring hand on his thigh.

"Pierce sent the Winter Soldier after Tony's parents," Sharon explained. "There was something Howard had he wanted retrieved.”

Peggy was very British, and very proper, and very old, so Clint absolutely did not expect her to blink, frown, and say, “Mother _fucker_.”

“That’s what I said,” Fury replied.

"Verbatim," Hill confirmed.

"Oh, shit," Amanda said suddenly.

“What?” half a dozen of the asked in near unison.

"Conrad. He said the last time anyone came close to recreating the serum was twenty years ago. By Howard. And when he grew a conscience they had to take his results by force.”

“That’s what Pierce wanted retrieved, then,” Steve said. “Why he sent the Asset.”

Fury looked at him. “What’d you do with it?”

Bucky shook his head. “I don’t remember,” he replied, sounding very upset about that.

Clint decided he shouldn’t have to keep explaining it. “When he couldn’t be made to cooperate with a mission, they had some method of mind control. Like a robot. Like. . .like Loki had me.”

"Missions that happened under those circumstances are a complete blank," Amanda continued, just enough steel in her tone to make Clint think she was not above punching Fury if he pushed the wrong way. "Whatever happened to Howard's serum attempts after the Asset took them from the car is a mystery.”

“That place in Volochanka where they stored the Winter Soldier might not be a bad place to start,” Clint said.

"One thing at a time," Fury said. "Let's get our house in order before we start banging on anyone else's door.”

“Well. I’ll see what comes up in my census, at least.”

"I still can't believe you got him to do that."

"Sitwell is scared of Clint and eager to be useful," Nat said. "It's the perfect combination for a good lackey.”

“You have the devil’s own luck,” Hill said.

“I won it from him in a fiddle contest.”

"I would be completely unsurprised to learn you knew how to play the fiddle.”

Clint just grinned, though he’d never played one in his life. He could play guitar, he could probably figure it out.

Peggy got tired pretty quickly after that, so Sharon and Steve took her back to the home, which was the cue for the others to head out and everyone to get out of their fancy clothes.

Funerals were surprisingly enjoyable when you hated the dead person.

In the morning, Clint got a very strange message on his phone, from a phone number in New Jersey. It gave coordinates, and the words, “With all due haste.” He showed it to Nat, who’d just gotten out of the shower.

She tilted her head thoughtfully and said, "Well, fuck.”

“What is it?”

"Those coordinates. That's where Steve and I found Zola.”

“Well,” Clint said. “I think I’m being summoned for an audience with the real boss.”

She was quiet a moment. "You want company?”

“If you don’t mind. I know your first encounter with him wasn’t fun.”

"That's sort of why I want to come. He's a kind of mindfuck you don't want to go into alone.”

He leaned over to kiss her temple. “Then I guess we’re going to Jersey.”

She sighed. "At least this time we don't have to steal a truck.”

They drove up to New Jersey that evening, deciding it would be easier to break into an abandoned army base at night.

"Is it suspicious if we beeline right to the armory building," Nat asked as they hopped the fence. "Should we wander in confusion for a while first?”

“Nope,” Clint said, flashing her a grin. “Pierce told me where it was.”

"Man, dead people are so convenient," she said as they strolled to the right building.

It was dusty and dark in there, looking a little like the set from a horror movie. He really hoped that wasn’t going to be how this ended up. “It does worry me a little he apparently has, like, a cell phone.”  
"There's a lot you can do with voice over IP," she offered. "Especially if you're, like, a brain in a jar.”

“Should I be concerned about the head in a jar we have at home?”

She lead him to the back where the mysterious elevator to no where was. "Look, we all knew Amanda would go super villain eventually. Frankenstein is probably one of the preferable routes.”

The room full of ancient computer banks was dark, and old fluorescent lights flickered on with audible pops. The tape drives whirred to life as they walked forward. “Oh, yeah,” Clint said. “Not creepy at all.”

"It gets worse," Nat muttered under her breath, just as the scrolling green numbers on one of the monitors coalesced into a face.

"Romanoff, Natalia Alianova, born 1985," it said and Clint heard Nat sigh a little. "Barton, Clinton Francis, born 1975. Welcome.”

“You must be Zola,” Clint replied.

"Correct," he replied. "I have read a great deal about you both. It is a pleasure to meet you in the flesh, so to speak.”

“I’ve heard a great deal about you. I’d have ignored that bizarre text otherwise. “

"I presume our dear Director shared information with you before his untimely death?”

“He did. I had no idea we had that kind of tech back then."

Some of the reel to reels whirred and Clint had the distinct impression the guy was preening. "Hydra has long mastered the art of hiding in plain sight.”

“It appealed to my nature,” he said in reply. He folded his arms over his chest. “But that is no excuse for operational chaos. You know how frighteningly organized the original Nazis were. People coming up to me asking me who is in charge? That’s bullshit, why was there no succession plan for an organization run by someone who was born in 1932?”

"In the past succession plans have been sources of conflict. Factions splinter off, infighting weakens us. We've found that a leader emerging naturally leads to stronger ties. People rally behind someone they think they've chosen quicker than one chosen for them." He paused, reels clicking. "Though in this particular case, our expected heir died three months ago. You were . . . a surprise. But a welcome one.”

Clint inclined his head. “I ended up in New Mexico as punishment, because Fury is a self-righteous jackass. But it worked out in the end—Carson showed me a better way.”

"Yes, Carson was a more prolific recruiter than I ever knew. His methods were often crude, but clearly effective." The face on the screen turned to regard Nat. "You clearly have skills in that area as well, Agent Barton."

Nat shrugged. "I'm an easy sell. I like the winning side."

"Hmmm. A very practical outlook, Agent.”

“So, is this just a meet and greet or what?” Clint asked.

"For the most part. I wanted to see you and make sure we understood each other. And to discuss a few plans Pierce may not have had time to update you on.”

“I know the Battle of New York accelerated some things.”

"Yes, as has Pierce's death. There were several issues he was keeping an eye on that may now need to be taken care of. And it will fall to you to do so. Or delegate who will.”

It took all his self control not to look at Nat, lest Zola read something into it. “I’m all ears.”

"First, we should discuss Project Insight.”

“Ah, yes. I believe New York helped a lot to get the World Security Council to sign off on that.”

"Yes. The plans are being drawn up as we speak. It would be useful to get Stark on board, his technology would improve the carriers.”

“Nat has a pretty good relationship with him,” Clint said. “We’ll see what we can do.”

“I imagine you would be quite useful,” Zola said to Nat. “I’ve been monitoring the news; clearly he has is father’s wandering eye. I expect he’ll be easy to manipulate, or destabilize if need be.”

Clint ground his teeth, understanding why Steve had punched the screen.

"I'll work on him," Nat said easily. "New York spooked him, he'll be easy to convince. Anything else?"

"Fury. Keep an eye on him. Pierce had a short leash on him. With him gone I'm afraid the good director will begin to snoop. If so, he will need to be taken care of. Pierce enjoyed using our Asset, but I assume you two can handle it how you prefer.”

“We’re familiar with him. I tend to prefer to do my own killing, but I suppose I should get out of that habit.” This might be a good time to test what Zola knew. “Did Pierce tell you about Dr. Newbury?”

"Yes, the woman interested in the serum. I would not pin too many hopes on her success. She's not the first to try and will not be the last. Even I could not replicate Erskine's results entirely, and I knew the man personally.

“Perhaps not, but she’s got the Asset in much better shape. We brought him over to the US—the Russians don’t know how to care for their equipment.”

"It has been a long time since he had someone focused on his maintenance. It's good. He will be useful in the coming years. As long as you're confident you can control her, I see no reason she cannot continue being his handler.”

The idea that somebody could control Amanda Newbury was the funniest damn thing Clint had ever heard in his entire life. But all he said was, “Won’t be a problem. People don’t survive long if they cross me.” That, at least, was mostly true.

"Good. Very good!" He had the distinct impression the face on the screen was smiling. "I think this will be a very advantageous partnership, Agent Barton.”

It took him a moment to make himself offer a convincing-sounding, “Hail Hydra.”


End file.
